Jury Finds Man Guilty in Slayings of Woman, Girl

An alleged gang member was convicted of first-degree murder Monday in the shooting death of a woman and her 3-year-old daughter who were struck by a stray bullet as they sat in their east Rancho Dominguez home.

After four hours of deliberation, a Compton jury found Eli Arana, 19, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Laura Reyes, 28, and her only child, Celeste, who died during an apparent gang shooting instigated by Arana.

“I don’t care how long the jury took, I’m just satisfied that they convicted this guy,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Burke.

Arana was not charged as the shooter, Burke said, but was convicted based on evidence that he drove the car and planned the ambush on a rival gang that sent a spray of gunfire into the neighborhood, including the fatal shot into the Reyes home.

“He was at least behind the wheel of the car when the shooting took place,” Burke said.

Sheriff’s deputies are still investigating the suspected shooter, he said.

Arana faces a possible life term without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced Sept. 1, Burke said. He said the circumstances did not allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Arana also was convicted on five counts of attempted murder, two counts of shooting at an occupied home and one count of shooting at an occupied car.

The May 8, 1997, killings shocked residents of the quiet neighborhood between Compton and the Long Beach Freeway.

Reyes was sitting on her couch, having just watched a Lakers game in her living room, when a single .45-caliber bullet fired 400 feet away ripped through a wooden fence and a window of her home. Her daughter was playing about 10 feet away. The bullet struck both in the head; Laura Reyes died at the scene; the child died later at a hospital.

Investigators believe that Arana and at least one gang associate were driving near the Reyes home in the 15800 block of South Frailey Avenue when they spotted at least five members of a rival gang on the sidewalk in front of the home of one of the gang members.

Burke said it was Arana’s idea to circle around and attack. Investigators believe that at least 40 shots were fired in the neighborhood, hitting several homes.

Oscar Rivas, 20, was standing near the intersection when he suffered a superficial wound in the arm. It was not clear if he was an intended target.

Only one bullet hit the Reyes home--the bullet that annihilated the family of Elijio Reyes, 27, who was in the house but escaped harm.

Laura Reyes worked in the Long Beach office of the county Department of Public Social Services, dealing with people who had applied for public assistance.

At the time of the shooting, the Reyeses had been fixing up the house to sell so they could leave the area.

A cousin of Elijio Reyes declined to comment Monday.